Year 7

To support transition in Year 7, Avila aims to provide each student with the opportunity for success and for growth towards the realisation of individual potential.

The Year 7 curriculum is a coherent program designed to help students make the transition from primary school to secondary school with ease.

In Year 7, students complete a common and comprehensive course aimed at providing them with an introduction to all areas of the curriculum.

Assessment is ongoing. All work contributes towards the learning. The formal semester report, which is issued at the end of each semester, indicates the level at which the student performs for each subject.

The aim of Year 7 Religious Education is to provide all Avila College students with a broad understanding of Christian beliefs and practices in the Catholic tradition. Students learn how special events such as Easter and Christmas are celebrated, how Christians pray and about characters and stories from the bible. The Religious Education program is based on the Archdiocese of Melbourne’s guidelines and utilises the text To Know, Worship and Love. Students study a range of units from the Content Strands of: Scripture and Jesus; Church and Community; God, Religion and Life; Prayer, Liturgy and Sacraments; and Morality and Justice.

Pathways to Avila

Students discover the history of Avila College, when it was founded and by whom. They study the Presentation Sisters and their founder Nano Nagle, then research Teresa of Avila and learn how her life shapes what we do here at Avila College.

The Liturgical Year

Students learn the seasons, holy days, symbols and colours of the Catholic liturgical year.

Old Testament Stories

In this unit students develop a foundation understanding of the history and story of the Bible. They become familiar with the types of literature in the Bible (myth, proverbs, poetry, parables), with a focus on the key people in the Old Testament.

Jesus in the New Testament

In this unit students learn and demonstrate an understanding of the life of Jesus. Students explore the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Letters and the Book of Revelation. They pinpoint key events in the gospels that exemplify the qualities of Jesus. They identify reasons why faith inspires people to contribute to the mission of the Church.

Advent

Advent is the preparation for the birth of Jesus and the celebration of Christmas. This unit provides an introduction to the religious history, symbols and meaning of Christmas.

Avila’s Religious Education program is developed around the pillars of the head, the heart and the hand. The head component requires students to develop an understanding of faith and what it means to them. The heart aspect refers to the ability to empathise, and to be caring and compassionate, whilst the hand element refers to students’ participation in social justice programs by volunteering to help those less fortunate.

All students study English as a core subject. The English curriculum is built around three interrelated strands of: Language, Literature and Literacy. Together the strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Year 7 English enables opportunities for extension and further experiences with guest author presentations.

Language

• Students engage with the various features of language that support meaning. • Students explore the ways in which choices about language features shape meaning in texts. • Students learn about the ways that language patterns contribute to the distinctive nature of the overall organisation and shape of a text.

Literature

• Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. • Students explore a range of text types including spoken, written and multimodal texts. • Students read and explore literary texts and use these as models for their own writing.

Literacy

• Students explore the ways in which vocabulary, text structures and language features impact on meaning. • Students comprehend and interpret texts in a range of ways. • Students understand how the selection of language features can be used for particular purposes and effects.

Humanities at Year 7 involves a semester each of Geography and History, with elements of Economics and Business integrated throughout the year. When studying Geography students investigate liveable places and water as a resource. Students develop skills in observing, recording and evaluating as well as communicating findings, arguments and ideas. The History component explores the Ancient Past through the study of the civilisations of Ancient China, and the Mediterranean world. Students develop skills in questioning and research, analysis and interpretation of historic documents and events. .

All students in Year 7 study Mathematics. The major content and processes of Mathematics are grouped into the following strands:

Number and Algebra

Measurement and Geometry

Statistics and Probability

The Mathematics course builds on skills developed in primary school. In particular, teachers consolidate basic mathematical skills and introduce students to a range of new concepts.

Students are required to complete regular homework including practice exercises, problem solving and regular revision. Students are encouraged to participate in the Australian Maths Competition, the Maths Talent Quest and the AustralasianMaths Olympiad. Each student is also able to use mathsonline and the interactive text to reinforce and improve her number and problem solving skills.

Students participate in a Maths Activities Day during which they apply their mathematical skills to real life settings.

All students study Science in Year 7 in line with the Victorian Curriculum. Year 7 students begin the year looking at the nature of Science where the students are introduced to the procedures and equipment used in a science laboratory. The content is drawn from the four disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Geology and Physics. The course is activity based and focuses on students developing their understanding of the scientific method through involvement in designing and implementing authentic scientific investigations.

The Arts

All students in Year 7 study Art, Drama and Music as part of the Arts learning area. In each of these subjects the students are encouraged to be active participants. The courses are designed in such a way that students who have a talent in an area are encouraged to develop their skills and excel. At the same time, each course is designed to accommodate the learning needs of students for whom this is a new experience.

Visual Arts

In Year 7, students examine historical and contemporary artworks and experience practical areas using a range of media such as pencil, paint, charcoal, ink and clay. They explore ideas and starting points for artworks in their visual diary and experiment with additional techniques and processes such as print-making, collage and three-dimensional constructions. Students learn to analyse and evaluate the work of professional artists as well as their own creative artworks.

Drama

Drama is compulsory for all students. Contact time is four 80-minute lessons per fortnight for one semester. This course offers students a number of introductory acting activities including improvisation, play script interpretation, drama games, role-play, and student script writing. Students rehearse and present drama material in small ensembles. Apart from acquiring skills in acting, communication and problem-solving, students in Year 7 Drama also gain important life skills such as confidence and self-esteem.

Year 7 students are also welcome to attend Junior Drama Club on Monday lunchtimes during Terms 1, 2 and 3. At Junior Drama Club, the Drama Captains in Years 9–12 run drama games and other fun activities to help boost students’ confidence at school. The Junior Drama Club also contributes an item for the annual Creative Arts Spectacular. Junior Drama Club is always a very popular lunchtime activity for Year 7 girls at Avila College.

A student’s perspective:

I would recommend Drama as a subject to people who like to express their self in different ways and who have a creative mind. If you like acting and you would like to learn heaps more about how to act, this would be the perfect subject for you. In Drama, you have so much fun. You do lots of different activities such as script reading, improvising, group work and solo work. In Drama you don’t just learn how to act, you learn how to read a script. Drama helps you to be more confident with public speaking and how to be a different character. You also learn how to use different emotions and expressions. It helps you become better in many other subjects and you learn by having fun.

Music

All students study music for one semester in Year 7. During the semester, they learn to play an orchestral instrument and take part in small group lessons with a specialised instrumental teacher. After the group lesson, the students come together to form a class ensemble, performing a selection of works as a band. At the culmination of the semester, each class performs a short concert. During the semester, students also have the option of joining the Concert Band and String Orchestra to further enhance their instrumental experience and are actively encouraged to further their instrumental skills through individual lessons in the extra-curricular music program offered at the school.

In the Year 7 Music Classroom ‘Learn An Orchestral Instrument’ Program Performance students also listen to and analyse works from a range of styles. They develop an appreciation and understanding of music.

French, Indonesian, Italian In Year 7 students are introduced to two out of the three languages (French, Indonesian, Italian) offered at Avila College. One of the languages studied in Year 7 is selected before commencing at the College and the other language is allocated to the student by the College. Each language is studied for one semester. With the benefit of an introduction to two different languages, students are then well placed to make an informed decision about which language they will continue to study throughout Years 8 and 9.

The units of work, comprising fun activities, cultural projects and mini tests, allow the students to appreciate different cultures and become familiar with the study of foreign languages. Students do not have a set text for these units and use Language Perfect for vocabulary building.

Annually our students take part in the Language Perfect World Championships. It is a world world wide competition in language vocabulary learning.

Language Testimonial

Technology

A game by Sophie Colbourne

Digital Technologies

Students learn to use their laptops effectively and safely and investigate what makes a good digital citizen in the twenty-first century through a group project. They learn about how data is created, managed, stored and transmitted. Students are introduced to computer programming and have an opportunity to apply design thinking to programming tasks in order to become creative and innovative producers of digital solutions.